Blue Ridge Parkway
North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Parkway
travels south from the
Shenandoah National Park
to the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park,
winding through some of
the most beautiful
scenery in Virginia and
North Carolina. The Blue
Ridge Parkway has been
designated an
"All-American Road" by
the Federal Highway
Administration. This
means that it has
nationally significant
qualities and
one-of-a-kind features
that make driving the
road reason enough for
a trip to the High
Country. Only a few
miles into your trip
along the Parkway, you
will understand how it
came to receive such an
honor. As the Parkway
winds through miles of
natural habitats and historic
areas,
panoramic views abound.
A drive on the Parkway
will confirm that it is indeed a
destination unto itself.

As you travel on the
Blue Ridge
Parkway North Carolina, you will find a
wide variety of
attractions; some
located on the Parkway
and others located just
a few miles away in the
neighboring communities.
Banner Elk North
Carolina (located
just
off the Parkway near
Mile Post 305) offers
many attractions and
diversions for those
traveling on the Blue Ridge
Parkway.

One
of the more breathtaking
sights along the North
Carolina stretch of
the Blue Ridge Parkway
is the Linn Cove
Viaduct. The Viaduct
wraps around Linn Cove
on the side of
Grandfather Mountain
and was the last section
of the Parkway to be
finished. The Viaduct is
one of the most
complicated concrete
bridges ever built, as
it was designed to have
as little impact on the
environment as possible.
There is a Visitor's
Center at the Viaduct
with a trail that gives
visitors a beautiful
view of the Viaduct.
(This trail is
handicapped accessible).

Just a mile from
Milepost 305, you'll
find Grandfather
Mountain. It's the
highest peak in the Blue
Ridge Mountains and
offers spectacular
views, several hiking
trails, a museum and
natural habitats for
bears, otters, eagles,
cougars and deer. If you
view the mountain from
Hwy 105, you'll see
where the mountain gets
its name. Along the
profile of the ridge,
you'll see the old man,
"Grandfather." Local
legend says that he laid
down on the ridge of the
mountain to rest, fell
asleep and laid there so
long that he became part
of the mountain. There
are also many legends
about the mountain in
the local Cherokee lore
that designate the
mountain as a passage to
the underworld. The
mountain is privately
owned, and it is
interesting to note that
the present owner's
father, Hugh Morton, was
largely responsible for
the Linn Cove Viaduct.
It was Hugh Morton's
dedication to protecting
the environment on his
beloved mountain that
produced the Viaduct,
one of the
environmentally-friendly
bridges in existence.
For more details, click
on the link on the right
side of the page.

Near Blowing Rock on the Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most popular and expansive attractions is the Moses Cone Manor Memorial Park, a 3,500 acre park full of pristine High Country beauty. At the heart of the North Carolina High Country resort area and Blowing Rock NC, Moses Cone Manor National Park is "historic splendor at its finest." Moses Cone was a "prosperous textile entrepreneur, conservationist, and philanthropist of the Gilded Age." The park's focal point is Flat Top Manor, a magnificent white 20-room, 13,000 square foot mansion built in 1901 in the grand Colonial Revival style. The Manor is home to the Parkway Craft Center, one of five shops of the Southern Highland Craft Guild that has handmade crafts by hundreds of regional artists. Throughout the season, local artists demonstrate crafts such as quilting, embroidery, weaving, pottery, glass-blowing, and woodcarving on the front porch of the Manor. Call the Parkway Craft Center for the daily schedule at 828-295-7938. They are open from March 15 through November 30 from 9am - 5 pm daily. For more details,
click on the link on the
right side of the page.

At the foot of Grandfather Mountain, near Blowing Rock, North Carolina is the Julian Price Memorial Park. The entrance is located at Milepost 295. The Park adjoins the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park and together the two comprise the largest area developed for recreation along the Parkway. The Julian Price Memorial Park covers more than 4,300 acres, including a small lake and offers many activities for visitors, including hiking, fishing, canoeing, camping, guided walks and evening campfire programs. The grounds include 100 picnic sites, with shelters and comfort stations. A 300-seat amphitheater is used for lectures and talks during the summer months. Canoes can be rented for use on Price Lake. The Julian Price Memorial Park has seven hiking trails (see our Hiking & Biking page) including the Price Lake Loop Trail and the challenging Boone Fork Loop Trail. The ingeniously engineered Tanawha Trail passes under the Linn Cove Viaduct and wraps around the southeastern ridge of Grandfather Mountain. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Also, off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, there are several small lakes that have a variety of fish. Price Lake allows non-motorized boat traffic while Sims Pond, Bass Lake and Trout Lake allow bank fishing only. An NC or VA license without a trout stamp is valid for these bodies of water. For more information, call the Blue Ridge Parkway Headquarters at 828-271-4779.

Another attraction you
will find just off the
Parkway is the Old
Hampton Store in
Linville North
Carolina. The Old
Hampton Store began
operating around 1920.
Here you will find the
old-fashioned general
store and grist mill.
(They make their own
cornmeal, grits and
buckwheat pancake mix!
Yummy!) Stop by and
enjoy some of the best
BBQ in the High Country,
served on homemade
sourdough bread! Next
door is an art gallery,
featuring southern folk
art, pottery, wood
carving, blacksmithing,
weaving, blown glass and
jewelry. The Old Hampton
Store is full of great old-time
family fun!

The Weaving Room in
Crossnore offers an
excellent opportunity to
watch the mountain
tradition of weaving in
action. You can also
visit the craft shop and
the Blair Fraley Thrift
Store. These are all
located on the campus of Crossnore School in
Crossnore NC.

Linville Caverns gives
visitors the opportunity to
take a guided tour
through caverns filled
with stalactites and
stalagmites and watch
the trout swim through
streams running below
the caverns. The caverns
stay a constant 52
degrees all year long!
The caverns are open
from March 1 to November
30 and are very
family-friendly. Don't
forget to visit the gift
shop containing
souvenirs, local pottery
and rock specimens. For
more information, please
call Linville Caverns at
800-419-0540 or email
them at
info@linvillecaverns.com.

The Brown Mountain
Lights are a mystery
that no one has ever
been able to fully
explain. The yellow, red
or bluish-white lights
appear over Brown
Mountain in all seasons.
There are many legends
to explain the mystery
of the lights. One of
the more enduring
stories is that after a
clash between the
Cherokee and Catawba,
several wives went up on
the mountain to search
for their missing
husbands. The legend
says that the lights are
the torches of those
wives as they continue
to search for their lost
loves. Locals say that
while the lights can be
visible year-round, the
best chance of seeing
the lights is on a fall
night just after a good
rain. There are several
North Carolina Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks to view the
lights: an overlook on
NC 181 near Jonas Ridge,
Lost Cove Overlook on
milepost 310 and Thunder
Hill Overlook on
milepost 290.

And of course, the North
Carolina Blue
Ridge Parkway has access
to countless hiking
trails, many of which
offer breathtaking views
of local waterfalls. See
our
Hiking & Biking Page
for the milepost
location, names,
mileages and levels of
difficulty. A & W
Mountain Rentals offer
the best Blue Ridge
Parkway Lodging for your
NC Mountain vacation.

The Linville River begins as a tributary off Grandfather Mountain and gains strength as it travels southeast toward what is now the Linville Gorge; a fantastic feat of nature achieved over thousands of years. Linville River's tremendous scouring action, propelled by its dramatic 2,000 foot drop within 12 miles, formed one of Eastern America's most scenic and rugged gorges. For more details,
click on the link on the
right side of the page.

For the hardcore hiker,
Linville Gorge offers a
wide variety of trails
and rock climbing. Known
as the "Grand Canyon of
North Carolina," the
Gorge is very rugged and
remote and a wonderful
challenge for serious
hikers. For more
details, click on the
link on the right side
of the page.

At the northern end of
the Gorge is Linville
Falls. The Falls are
located off Mile Post
316 of the Blue Ridge
Parkway. There are
trails leading to the
views of both the upper
and lower falls.
Surrounding forests are
filled with hemlock,
white pine, oak, hickory
and birch trees. There
are also a variety of
colorful wildflowers
surrounding the trails
in the spring and
summer. In autumn, the
changing colors of the
leaves will leave you
breathless. Swimming is
prohibited at all areas
of Linville Falls. Plan
to spend a lot of time
down here soaking up the
beauty. There are
numerous places along
your hike to have a
picnic. Be sure to bring
lots of water and don't
forget to bring a
camera. For more
details, click on the
link on the right side
of the page.

The trails to Linville Gorge and to Plunge Basin begin at the visitor center and fork approximately 0.2 mile from the center. The right fork leads to the Plunge Basin Overlook which offers views of the lower falls. The Linville Gorge trail winds down through the rock cliffs to the bottom of the falls. Both of these trails are strenuous and you should remember that swimming and climbing on the rocks are prohibited for safety reasons. For more information on these and other places to hike, see our Hiking & Biking page.

Located in Spruce Pine
directly on the Parkway
at Milepost 331 (at
Gillespie Gap), the
North Carolina Minerals
Museum is a great place
for families! Look at
beautiful North Carolina
gems and learn about the
importance of NC Gem
Mining to the High
Country's history. For
more information, call
828-765-9483. Also for
more details, click on
the link on the right
side of the page.